Steven Mouzon

Reposting because this is a permanently relevant topic. Most of the special exercises and variations that already strong, advanced lifters do to help break stagnant lifts out of a plateau are a waste of time for ~95% of people, maybe more. Unless you already have a solid base, mastering the basics and adding a little bit of weight every workout/week, and increasing your testicular fortitude, will do more for all of your lifts than any number of variations or special exercises. The problem isn’t exactly that these special exercises and variations are wrong. The problem is that few people ever advance enough in their training to where they are needed, and most coaches don’t recognize the role that categories of training advancement play in determining this. If you can’t bench 225, it’s extremely unlikely that two special tricep exercises and three bench variations are what you need. It is exceedingly more likely that you need to train harder and more consistently, possibly eat a little more, and bust your ass to add 2.5 or 5 pounds a week to the bar.